Iranian women footballers banned from national team because they are MEN

TESTS: Four players (not pictured) from the women's Iranian football team were waiting for sex-change operations [GETTY]

The foursome are waiting to have sex-change operations, meaning they are men playing on a female side.

However, they will all allowed to be able to play on the side again once surgery has taken place, despite the country's hard-line ban on sex before marriage and homosexuality.

The four fellas are among several players in the Islamic Republic who were discovered to still have their genitals, after a new rule came in that meant all female footballers were gender-tested before signing to a club.

And as a result of random checks at training grounds, seven other players have had their contracts cancelled after it was discovered they weren't actually women.

Ahmad Hashemian, head of the Iranian football federation’s medical committee, told The Sun: "If these people can solve their problems through surgery and be in a position to receive the necessary medical qualifications, they will then be able to participate in women's football."

Several of the banned players have sexual disorders where the genitals have not developed properly, while others have a mixture of male and female organs.